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43-538: The area around the mountains is conducive to the farming of wheat, while the area on top of the Piketberg Mountains range (called Piket-Bo-Berg ), being cooler and generally frost-free, is suited to the farming of fruit and Rooibos Tea . Piketberg has a large Dutch Reformed Church designed by the architect Carl Otto Hager in his trademark neo-Gothic style. The area was inhabited by the Khoikhoi and

86-722: A Moravian Brother from Herrnhut , Saxony, now Germany, founded Genadendal in 1738, which was the first mission station in southern Africa, among the Khoe-speaking peoples in Baviaanskloof in the Riviersonderend Mountains . The colonial designation of "Baasters" came to refer to any clans that had European ancestry in some part and adopted certain Western cultural traits. Though these were later known as Griqua (Xirikua or Griekwa) they were known at

129-468: A "Khoekhoe" people. The broad ethnic designation of "Khoekhoen", meaning the peoples originally part of a pastoral culture and language group to be found across Southern Africa, is thought to refer to a population originating in the northern area of modern Botswana . This culture steadily spread southward, eventually reaching the Cape approximately 2,000 years ago. "Khoekhoe" groups include ǀAwakhoen to

172-566: A large and successful region of the Cape that subsisted more or less autonomously. The people were predominantly Afrikaans-speaking !Gonakua, but the settlement also began to attract other diverse groups. Khoekua were known at the time for being very good marksmen, and were often invaluable allies of the Cape Colony in its frontier wars with the neighbouring Xhosa politics. In the Seventh Frontier War (1846–1847) against

215-728: Is a mountain range, which stands alone, an island bordered by only three towns – Aurora to the West, Redelinghuys to the North and Piketberg on its Eastern slopes. It is accessed by the Versfeld Pass . The name originates from the old Dutch word 'picquet' as a small military outpost or 'pickets' were posted here in the 1670s to protect the farmers from cattle rustling raids by the Kogikwa Khoikhoi led by Gonnema. Another possible source of Piketberg's name could be related to

258-529: Is actually a kare or praise address, not an ethnic endonym, but it has been used in the literature as an ethnic term for Khoe -speaking peoples of Southern Africa, particularly pastoralist groups, such as the Griqua , Gona, Nama , Khoemana and Damara nations. The Khoekhoe were once known as Hottentots , a term now considered offensive. While the presence of Khoekhoe in Southern Africa predates

301-459: Is also believed to be the creator and the guardian of health, while ǁGaunab is primarily an evil being, who causes sickness or death. Many Khoe-speakers have converted to Christianity and Nama Muslims make up a large percentage of Namibia's Muslims. UNESCO has recognised Khoe-speaking culture through its inscription of the Richtersveld as a World Heritage Site . This important area is

344-870: Is related to certain dialects spoken by foraging San peoples of the Kalahari , such as the Khwe and Tshwa , forming the Khoe language family. Khoekhoe subdivisions today are the Nama people of Namibia, Botswana and South Africa (with numerous clans), the Damara of Namibia, the Orana clans of South Africa (such as Nama or Ngqosini), the Khoemana or Griqua nation of South Africa, and the Gqunukhwebe or Gona clans which fall under

387-427: Is thought to have entered the region in the 3rd century AD, pushing pastoralists into the Western areas. The example of the close relation between the ǃUriǁ'aes (High clan), a cattle-keeping population, and the !Uriǁ'aeǀ'ona (High clan children), a more-or-less sedentary forager population (also known as "Strandlopers"), both occupying the area of ǁHuiǃgaeb , shows that the strict distinction between these two lifestyles

430-402: Is unwarranted, as well as the ethnic categories that are derived. Foraging peoples who ideologically value non-accumulation as a social value system would be distinct, however, but the distinctions among "Khoekhoe pastoralists", "San hunter-gatherers" and "Bantu agriculturalists" do not hold up to scrutiny, and appear to be historical reductionism . Portuguese explorers and merchants are

473-670: The Bantu expansion , according to a scientific theory based mainly on linguistic evidence, it is not clear when, possibly in the Late Stone Age , the Khoekhoe began inhabiting the areas where the first contact with Europeans occurred. At that time, in the 17th century, the Khoekhoe maintained large herds of Nguni cattle in the Cape region . They mostly gave up nomadic pastoralism in the 19th to 20th century. Their Khoekhoe language

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516-675: The Nama or Namaqua and they have among them 11 formal clans: Among the Namaqua are also the Oorlams who are a southern Khoekhoe people of mixed-race ancestry that trekked northwards over the Orange River and where absorbed into the greater Nama identity. The Oorlams themselves are made up of five smaller clans: These Namaqua inhabit the Great Namaqualand region of Namibia . There are also minor Namaqua clans that inhabit

559-482: The San before the arrival of 21 Dutch, Huguenot and German families in 1705-06, and there is still well-preserved San rock art in the mountains. There was once a small military post in the town to protect the livestock of farmers from raids by the Khoikhoi . By the 1730s the population had grown to 35 families and around 400 white people. The Holtzhausen, Reyneke, Joubert, van Rooyen, Niewoudt and Visagie families are among

602-529: The "Gonjemans". The community used its cannon to signal the arrival of ships in Cape Town. Piketberg's farmers would load their carts with produce and wares. Then head to Cape Town to do business. The cannon also fired on special occasions like Queen Victoria's birthday and the arrival of the town's first telephone line. It fired for the last time in the 1961 on the proclamation of the Republic. A misfire left

645-527: The French card game piquet . According to folklore , a French refugee (or Huguenot ) who lived on the side of the mountain often played rounds of Piquet with his wife. One day a French official tasked with the recording of the names of farms and their inhabitants visited them (he had apparently visited them a few times before, and each time they had been playing the game). After remarking that whenever he visited they were always playing piquet, he asked them what

688-591: The Gcaleka, the Khoekua gunmen from Kat River distinguished themselves under their leader Andries Botha in the assault on the " Amatola fastnesses". (The young John Molteno , later Prime Minister, led a mixed commando in the assault, and later praised the Khoekua as having more bravery and initiative than most of his white soldiers.) However, harsh laws were still implemented in the Eastern Cape, to encourage

731-540: The Khoekhoe form of government. Goringhaiqua: The Goringhaiqua are a single tribal authority made from the two houses of the Goringhaikona and Gorachouqua. A commissioned Grammar and Dictionary of the Zulu Language , published in 1859, put forward the idea of an origin from Egypt that appears to have been popular at the time. The reasoning for this included the (supposed) distinctive Caucasian elements of

774-535: The Khoena political rights to avert future racial discontent. Attorney General William Porter was famously quoted as saying that he "would rather meet the Hottentot at the hustings, voting for his representative, than meet him in the wilds with his gun upon his shoulder". Thus, the government enacted the Cape franchise in 1853, which decreed that all male citizens meeting a low property test, regardless of colour, had

817-636: The Khoena to leave their lands in the Kat River region and to work as labourers on white farms. The growing resentment exploded in 1850. When the Xhosa rose against the Cape Government , large numbers Khoeǀ'ona joined the Xhosa rebels for the first time. After the defeat of the rebellion and the granting of representative government to the Cape Colony in 1853, the new Cape Government endeavoured to grant

860-750: The Little Namaqualand regions south of the Orange River in north western South Africa . The southern Khoekhoe peoples (Sometimes incorrectly called the Cape Khoe due to the importance of the Cape of Good Hope) inhabit the Western Cape and Eastern Cape Provinces in the south western coastal regions of South Africa . They are divided into four subgroups: Eastern Cape Khoe , Central Cape Khoe , Western Cape Khoe and Peninsular Cape Khoe . Each of these subgroups are further divided into nations and subtribes who constitute an integral part of

903-650: The Xhosa-speaking polities. The Xirikua clans (Griqua) developed their own ethnic identity in the 19th century and settled in Griqualand West. Later, they formed another independent state in Kwazulu Natal named Griqualand East , losing their independence barely a decade later to the British. They are related to the same kinds of clan formations as Rehoboth Basters , who could also be considered

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946-652: The ancestors of the !Ora nation of today. In the late 16th century, Portuguese, French, Danish, Dutch and English but mainly Portuguese ships regularly continued to stop over in Table Bay en route to the Indies. They traded tobacco, copper and iron with the Khoekhoe -speaking clans of the region, in exchange for fresh meat. Local population dropped after smallpox contagion was spread through European activity. The Khoe-speaking clans suffered high mortality as immunity to

989-412: The blanket designation of "coloured" (ignoring any nuances of the Khoekhoe peoples' specific cultures or subgroups) contributed to an erasure of Khoekhoe identity and culture, one which modern Khoekhoe people are still working to undo. Apartheid ended in 1994 and so too did the "Coloured" designation. After apartheid, Khoekhoe activists have worked to restore their lost culture, and affirm their ties to

1032-638: The borders of the Cape Colony. In the face of gradual Boer expansion and then large-scale Boer migrations away from British rule at the Cape, Jonker Afrikaner brought his people into Namaqualand by the mid-19th century, becoming a formidable force for Oorlam domination over the Nama and against the Bantu-speaking Hereros for a period. By the early 1800s, the remaining Khoe-speakers of the Cape Colony suffered from restricted civil rights and discriminatory laws on land ownership. With this pretext,

1075-600: The disease was rare. This increased, as military conflict with the intensification of the colonial expansion of the United East India Company that began to enclose traditional grazing land for farms. Over the following century, the Khoe-speaking peoples were steadily driven off their land, resulting in numerous northwards migrations, and the reformulation of many nations and clans, as well as the dissolution of many traditional structures. According to professors Robert K. Hitchcock and Wayne A. Babchuk, "During

1118-612: The earliest settler-pioneers of 1705-06. The Picquet commando was established in 1711 by the Dutch United East India Company (VOC) and consisted of a squad of 15 Riflemen of the Militia and a single 80 mm field cannon for protection against depredations of natives and wild animals. The cannon-fire protected the European-descended farming community from the attacks of the indigenous groups,

1161-479: The early phases of European colonization, tens of thousands of Khoekhoe and San peoples lost their lives as a result of genocide, murder, physical mistreatment, and disease." During an investigation into "bushman hunting" parties and genocidal raids on the San, Louis Anthing commented: "I find now that the transactions are more extensive than did at first appear. I think it not unlikely that we shall find that almost all

1204-510: The farmers living near this border are implicated in similar acts ... At present I have only heard of coloured farmers (known as Bastards) as being mixed up with these matters." "Khoekhoe" social organisation was thus profoundly damaged by the colonial expansion and land seizure from the late 17th century onwards. As social structures broke down, many Khoekhoen settled on farms and became bondsmen (bondservants, serfs) or farm workers; others were incorporated into clans that persisted. Georg Schmidt,

1247-575: The first to record their contacts, in the 15th and 16th centuries A.D. The ongoing encounters were often violent. In 1510, at the Battle of Salt River , Francisco de Almeida and fifty of his men were killed and his party was defeated by ox-mounted !Uriǁ'aekua ("Goringhaiqua" in Dutch approximate spelling), which was one of the so-called Khoekhoe clans of the area that also included the !Uriǁ'aeǀ'ona ("Goringhaicona", also known as "Strandlopers"), said to be

1290-562: The land. Khoekhoe and Khoisan groups have brought cases to court demanding restitution for 'cultural genocide and discrimination against the Khoisan nation’, as well as land rights and the return of Khoesan corpses from European museums. The religious mythology of the Khoe-speaking cultures gives special significance to the Moon , which may have been viewed as the physical manifestation of a supreme being associated with heaven. Thiǁoab (Tsui'goab)

1333-519: The late 18th century, Oorlam communities migrated from the Cape Colony north to Namaqualand . They settled places earlier occupied by the Nama. They came partly to escape Dutch colonial conscription, partly to raid and trade, and partly to obtain herding lands. Some of these emigrant Oorlams (including the band led by the outlaw Jager Afrikaner and his son Jonker Afrikaner in the Transgariep ) retained links to Oorlam communities in or close to

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1376-697: The movie theatre. Non-whites sat in the gallery and whites sat on the main seats. [REDACTED] Media related to Piketberg at Wikimedia Commons Piketberg Mountain Range The Piketberg Mountain Range is a mountain range located in the Swartland (Black land) region of the Western Cape in South Africa . The mountain range is made up of low mountains primarily composed of Table Mountain Sandstone . It

1419-471: The name of their farm was. The Frenchman, who was supposedly Jaques Mouton , replied: "Eh bien, monsieur, écrivez Mont de Piquet" (Well then sir, let's write Piketberg.) Khoekhoe Khoekhoe ( /ˈkɔɪkɔɪ/ KOY-koy ) (or Khoikhoi in former orthography) are the traditionally nomadic pastoralist indigenous population of South Africa. They are often grouped with the hunter-gatherer San (literally "Foragers") peoples. The designation "Khoekhoe"

1462-527: The nation address. Khoekhoe were classified as "Coloured" under Apartheid. While this meant that they were offered a few privileges not given to the population deemed "black" (such as not having to carry a passbook), they were still subject to discrimination, segregation, and other forms of oppression. This included the forced relocation caused by the Group Areas Act , which broke up families and communities. The destruction of historical communities and

1505-482: The only place where transhumance practices associated with the culture continue to any great extent. The International Astronomical Union named the primary component of the binary star Mu¹ Scorpii after the traditional Khoekhoe language name Xami di mûra ('eyes of the lion'). The classification of Khoekhoe peoples can be broken down roughly into two groupings: Northern Khoekhoe & Southern Khoekhoe ( Cape Khoe ) . The Northern Khoekhoe are referred to as

1548-519: The powerful Commissioner General of the Eastern Districts, Andries Stockenstrom , facilitated the creation of the "Kat River" Khoe settlement near the eastern frontier of the Cape Colony. The more cynical motive was probably to create a buffer-zone on the Cape's frontier, but the extensive fertile land in the region allowed people to own their land and build communities in peace. The settlements thrived and expanded, and Kat River quickly became

1591-640: The right to vote and to seek election in Parliament. However, this non-racial principle was eroded in the late 1880s by a literacy test, and later abolished by the Apartheid Government. From 1904 to 1907, the Germans took up arms against the Khoekhoe group living in what was then German South-West Africa , along with the Herero . Over 10,000 Nama, more than half of the total Nama population at

1634-656: The school's windows aflame. Hereafter, the cannon was filled with cement. Until recently, the Piketberg cannon stood in front of Piketberg High School, aimed East, in the direction of Porterville High School, its rival. Jewish Heritage The many Jewish surnames in Piketberg's historic graveyard bear witness to its once-vigorous Jewish community. Most had Lithuanian roots. They were entrepreneurs and raised themselves out of poverty by wheeling and dealing from farmstead to farmstead. Lodewyk Ando Simon, of Hungarian Jewish descent, moved from nearby Redelinghuys to Piketberg and built

1677-602: The synagogue has been home to the Piketberg Tourism Bureau. In recent years the synagogue has been part of the town museum. In February 2004 descendants of Piketberg's lost Jewish community celebrated their roots with a tree planting ceremony. The Piketberg Bio-scope building was built in the late 1920s. It was one of the first bios in the region. During the 1970s the cinema ran performances on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. Bruce Lee and James Bond movies were popular. South Africa's segregation also crept into

1720-538: The synagogue in 1925. It is estimated that 30 Jewish families lived in Piketberg at this time. Rabbi Moses Beraitzer, was the first rabbi. He was a strict shepherd to his flock. Though blind in his later years, the Rabbi served undaunted, and preached the Talmud from memory. It is unsure when the congregation disbanded. The University of Cape Town's Kaplan Centre houses several of the synagogue's historic documents. Since 1996

1763-706: The time as " Basters " and in some instances are still so called, e. g., the Bosluis Basters of the Richtersveld and the Baster community of Rehoboth, Namibia , mentioned above. Arguably responding to the influence of missionaries, the states of Griqualand West and Griqualand East were established by the Kok dynasty; these were later absorbed into the Cape Colony of the British Empire . Beginning in

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1806-508: The time, may have died in the conflict. This was the single greatest massacre ever witnessed by the Khoekhoe people. As native African people, Khoekhoe and other dark-skinned, indigenous groups were oppressed and subjugated under the white-supremacist Apartheid regime. In particular, some consider Khoekhoe and related ethnic groups to have been some of the most heavily marginalized groups during Apartheid's reign, as referenced by previous South African president Jacob Zuma in his 2012 state of

1849-516: The west, and ǀKx'abakhoena of South and mid-South Africa, and the Eastern Cape. Both of these terms mean "Red People", and are equivalent to the IsiXhosa term "amaqaba". Husbandry of sheep, goats and cattle grazing in fertile valleys across the region provided a stable, balanced diet, and allowed these lifestyles to spread, with larger groups forming in a region previously occupied by the subsistence foragers . Ntu-speaking agriculturalist culture

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